I really hated planes. They were confining and loud and had too many rules. My wolf was restless. There had been heavy turbulence almost the entire flight, making it impossible for me to even get up to stretch my legs for six hours. Too long of a time span for me.
There were several times when the flight attendant almost got throat-punched. Once for checking out Liam and two other times for interrupting our conversations. Didn’t they know we had more important shit to worry about than needing a damn pillow? Apparently not.
When we got off the plane, the torture wasn’t over. We still had to get our bags and it was as if we were in the middle of Black Friday shopping. People pushed and shoved, wanting to be first to the conveyer belt to get their things. I actually growled at some woman who accidentally pushed her tits into Liam’s face, claiming she had tripped. Bull-fucking-shit.
I wasn’t used to being around other women and Liam. He needed to figure out a way to tone down his hotness if we were going to be in public again. I was going to land myself in jail for assault if we didn’t get out of the airport soon.
Liam rubbed his hand at the base of my spine. “Easy, killer. We’re almost out of here. Augie is waiting outside for us.”
I huffed. “I don’t think I’m going to make it outside without knocking someone out.”
“Go find him and I’ll get our bags, okay? No sense in both of us waiting in this zoo.”
I scoffed. “Hell, no. The moment I leave you, the vultures are going to swoop in. You need me.”
He shook his head at me. “Yes, dear.”
Ten minutes later, we were outside and loading our bags into the rear of the truck. I climbed into the back, so I’d have more room while Liam took shotgun.
Augie glanced back at me. “How was the trip?”
I groaned. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“You know eventually you’re going to have to explain your crazy texts about coming home, right?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Later, though. I don’t have it in me to say things in a nice way after dealing with so many people today.”
Liam winced, and I knew he was nervous about what I would tell Augie about our time in the Catskills. Augie wouldn’t judge him too harshly. He would have likely understood Liam’s position and smacked me for being so self-conscious.
The drive back home was a couple hours long, so I decided to sleep for most of it. The time change was killing me already, and I knew my dad would want to meet with us as soon as we got in. A little extra rest after the irritating flight sounded like the best idea.
Liam shook me awake when we got back. It was early evening and the sun was beginning to set. My favorite time of the day was when the sun began moving below the horizon, causing a kaleidoscope of colors to grace the clear skies. Orange, yellow, red, and purple – so much beauty in Oregon.
Augie grabbed our bags. “Go see your dad. I’ll take these and be right there.”
I smiled at him and realized I hadn’t hugged him in far too long. I moved toward him as he dropped the bags and met me in the middle. His arms came around me and I held on as if my life depended on it. I hadn’t expected to get emotional, but I couldn’t help it.
Deaths from our pack, deaths in the Catskills, everything with Sera, leaving Jamie, and now someone double-crossing our pack. No, not someone. Rick. A high-ranking member of our pack. I needed a damn vacation from life.
“I missed you, Tay,” Augie mumbled in my hair.
I nodded, unable to speak yet. The tears had come, but I had managed to keep the actual crying noises at bay.
We pulled apart a minute later and I kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
I walked back to Liam and he took my hand in his as he used his other hand to wipe a stray tear from my face.
“I know Augie is your best friend and I have no problems with your relationship with him,” Liam said. “In fact, I’m glad you’ve had a friend like him growing up, but I also want you to know that I’m not going anywhere. Whenever you need to vent, whether it be verbally or physically, I’m here for you.”
I leaned up and pressed my lips to his. “Thank you. For all of that. It means more to me than you could possibly know. I promise there is nothing I can say to Augie that I wouldn’t tell you.”
Before Liam could reply, my dad stormed out of the house. I was sure something was wrong, but as I was about to ask what happened, his face lit up with a grin.
He held his arms open for me. “My baby girl.”
“Hey, Dad.” I went to him with no hesitation, just a bit of confusion.
I had assumed he’d have been stressed beyond measure with the news about Rick and hadn’t had time to miss me. I was wrong. His grip was tight, and he didn’t show any signs of letting up.
“Um… Dad, should we go to your office? We have a lot to talk about.”
“Of course.” He released me and turned toward Liam. “I’m glad to see you back with us, son. I spoke with your mom. She called to apologize for the rough start, but promised she’d be here to visit soon. Anyone care to tell me what she meant about the rough start?”
I answered before Liam could feel pressured. “Just a little misunderstanding when we arrived at the Catskills, but it’s been resolved. Nothing to worry about.”
I smiled up at Liam. I wouldn’t put him through my dad’s wrath.
Dad eyed both of us suspiciously. “All right, then. Let’s head to my office.”
As soon as we opened the front door, Augie came from the kitchen, fried chicken in hand.
“Man, I should have grabbed more food, but I thought you’d be started already,” Augie whined.
I wasn’t sure there was anything he thought of more than food.
My dad turned toward us. “Are you two hungry? You can grab dinner before we go over what’s been happening?”
I glanced at Liam and he was eyeballing Augie’s snack. “We’ll grab plates really quickly and eat in the office.”
I pushed Liam toward the kitchen and Augie followed. “I’m getting seconds,” he called to my dad.
We each filled up a plate and made our way to the office in record time. Courtney had made fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and pie. I was in dinner heaven.
I sank down on the couch in my dad’s office and Liam took the seat next to me.
My dad’s eyes narrowed on Liam and he put his serious face on. I almost laughed at him but thought better of it.
“Now, Liam, I know we haven’t spoken much about your role within the pack, but if you’re going to sit in on these meetings, you’re going to be expected to help out a lot more around here. Augie needs more shifters to help with the guard rotations and I could use you for some things around the pack house. Is that going to be a problem?”
“Not at all, Gerald,” Liam said confidently. “I fully intend to make Raven Point my permanent home. Wherever I’m needed, you can count on me to be there.”
I smiled at Liam’s answer.
“Very well.” My dad nodded. “Let’s get started, then. Augie told you about Rick, correct?”
“He mentioned you brought him in, but we didn’t get specifics,” I said. “What happened? What was he messing with when Sam caught him?”
“Sam added some motion sensors to certain entry points on our property to give us a heads up in case someone tries to sneak in. One of them went off the night we put them up. It was late, and Sam was on rotation, so he went to check it out. Rick was there trying to rip one of them out.”
I didn’t understand why Rick would risk getting caught. If he was relaying information to Declan, then he could have just told him where not to go instead of taking the sensors down. None of it made any sense.
“What is Rick saying about being caught?” Liam asked.
“He’s saying he didn’t do anything. That he heard something coming from the sensor when he was passing by it and was only checking it out,” Augie answered.
My forehead creased in confusion. “So, was Rick on duty that night as well or was he just out wandering around? What was he doing?”
Dad leaned forward and sighed. “That’s the frustrating part. He won’t tell us what he was doing out there. He wasn’t on rotation. If he had a valid reason for being out there, then we might have believed him. It kills me to think our traitor could be him, but he’s hiding something, and we can’t risk that it may not have anything to do with Declan. There’s too much at stake”
I wanted to talk with Rick myself. Things weren’t adding up. Even though my head was telling me that Rick was our traitor, my heart told me not to rush to conclusions. Rick had been acting strangely lately, but there was more than one explanation for his out-of-character behavior. My gut was telling me that I needed to get to the bottom of it.
“I’m exhausted,” I said. “It’s been a long couple of days and I’m ready to go lay in my own bed. Do you mind if I go see Rick in the morning? I’d like to speak with him myself. I’d like to take Liam with me as well.”
“Not at all,” Dad answered. “He’s in the east holding room of the training facility. We have people scheduled to be outside the door around the clock. I’ll make sure they know you’re free to come and go as you please.”
I stood up and everyone else followed. I hugged my dad and Augie, then grabbed Liam’s hand to lead us home. My mind was on east coast time and I was ready for bed.
The door was unlocked, just the way we left it. We didn’t normally lock up the house, but maybe with everything going on, we needed to start. I didn’t even think I owned a house key. I’d have to ask Augie for one tomorrow.
We entered the bedroom and I didn’t stop walking until I crumbled onto the bed face-first. Jetlag was a twatwaffle and I wanted to punch her in the boob. My wolf was antsy. I was exhausted, but my brain was going over all the shit we had to deal with. I needed to unwind in a bad way.
I rolled over and propped myself up on my elbows taking in all that was my sexy mate. I was one lucky bitch. My wolf hummed in appreciation at the sight before us. He hadn’t gotten a haircut in the time I knew him, so it fell over his face as he looked down to unbutton his pants.
I continued to watch him undress, enjoying the show. He finally realized I wasn’t doing the same and stalked toward me.
“Does my mate need help getting ready for bed?” he murmured.
I nodded, dropping back on the bed as he crawled on top of me. He nipped at my neck, causing my wolf to push to the surface.
Mate, she said possessively.
Calm down, girl. Tonight is not the time for that.
My wolf wanted a blood bond something fierce and it was getting harder and harder to control her when Liam and I were doing anything more than simply kissing. If I didn’t let it happen soon, she was going to force a shift on me and take care of it herself.
“Are you okay?” Liam asked with a grin. “Your whole body just tensed up on me, which doesn’t bode well for my confidence.”
I laughed. “I’m fine. My wolf, on the other hand, is rather impatient for us to officially seal the deal.”
Rumbles from deep within his chest rose to the surface as his eyes fought between wolf and man. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one having control problems.
“I know what you mean,” he strained.
I reached a hand up to his face. “Soon, but not tonight. I’m exhausted, and I’d love nothing more than for you to strip me naked and have your way with me while doing all the work.”
His lips lifted into the cocky smirk I used to hate so much. “I’m going to have my way with you, but you’re going to be begging for me to let you work by the end of it.”
Holy fuckery.
He lifted my hands up and swiftly took my shirt off before using it to tie my hands together. I tried to pull them back down, but he shook his head.
“I’m doing all the work, remember? No touching.”
My breath hitched, and I was unable to think of anything else but what Liam planned to do to me. He took charge and activated so many of my senses that I was nothing more than putty in his hands, begging for relief.
When he finally had mercy on me, I exploded from the inside out within seconds. I had never been more thoroughly sated in my life and I had gotten exactly what I asked for. My body, mind, and wolf were happy for the time being. We had our mate and, for the night, that was all we needed.
Tomorrow, we’d get back to the shit storm, but for a few hours, I let it all fade away.